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The folks always care, even it doesn't look that way.

Yestrday my parents came through for a visit. The day's itinerary was laid out by mom. We'll start off with breakfast somewhere and then hit the shops (Mom was in desperate need of new yet comfortable shoes).

So after breakfast we headed off to the nearest shopping centre, where mom, sis and my girlfriend proceeded to thoroughly browse every shop that remotely sold shoes. Dad and myself continued to stand outside the shops, putting our muscles to the test with shopping bags filled to the brim with everything BUT shoes (oh the irony).

As we hit shopping mall number 3, there was end in sight as mom finally stumbled across not one, but two pairs of shoes she liked. Soon it was established that I also needed some new stuff and I was forced into trying on sneakers with the opinion of 5 people judging how it fits. Now besides for not being a cast member on My Super Sweet 16, I just don't have the arrogance to pick out the most expensive shoes on the shelf. But my Dad soon picked up a pair of Hush Puppies and asked me to try them on. My expression was "Hell no, they're R1000 a pair!" Dad's expression: "I didn't ask what they cost, I want to buy you something."

And there I was. Sitting in a shoe store with my foot so far up my mouth I could tickle my tonsils. Because whether it was a R49 pair of PEP slip-on's, or R1000 Soviet leathers, the folks wanted to get me something. Then I realised that no matter how tough times are or how hard life gets, your parents will always to the best they can to provide for you. Even if you're not living with them. I did not get anything material from the folks (simply because I have weird taste), but walked out of that mall with so much more.


Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

I'm Afrikaans. What does that mean?

Recently I've been having several conversations and arguments with work colleagues about their perceptions of Afrikaans people. You see I work in a very English dominated industry and every now and then there's an argument about how to sell stuff to Afrikaans people. When this issue gets raised, various eyebrow-raising thoughts come to the fore. I'm going to TRY and list all the misconceptions people have about Afrikaans speaking people.

1. We can't talk English at all.

Very korrekt. I are Afrikaans and Engliesh are not reeli my thirst language. What a load of crap. The fact of the matter is that most Afrikaans speaking people get drilled, from a very young age, that if they want to get anywhere, English is the way to go. Which is a definite truth as probably 60% of the world's population speaks English in some way or form. If you really want to have fun, ask any English person to speak a bit of Afrikaans. Kak funny!

2. We all dress the same.

Apparently being a Afrikaans guy means you have to wear the following:

• Two-tone khaki shirts (because that's just how we roll)
• Pt-shorts (because that's all shorts we own and all we Afrikaners do is play rugby)
• Rugby socks (sigh)

Yeah. Sadly a lot of the South African population think we're all farmers or struggling AWB members.

3. We only listen to Afrikaans music

I recently told a friend (who isn't Afrikaans) about the awesome concert by Park Acoustics that was going to happen at the Voortrekker Monument. The woord 'Voortrekker' didn't even properly leave my mouth before he said: "But won't they only play Afrikaans music?" Now folks, as much as we love our language, there are more than enough reasons to not always listen to music in Afrikaans: Kurt Darren, Nicholis Louw and the holy grail, Steve Hofmeyr. To give you an idea of some Afrikaans guys making incredible music just look at the likes of AKing, Kinky Robot, Fokofpolisiekar and BOO!

4. We're all closet racists

Very touchy subject. Yes, some crazy Afrikaans guy did implement the Apartheid system. Do I know him? No. Do I believe in this system? Hell no. I've been kicking it with black, coloured, asian, pink and purple friends since my younger years. Seriously people, there's a lot more cooler black people to hang out with than talking crap around a braai with some white people still stuck in the 80's. You know the kind. Those who start of their sentences with "I'm not a racist but...". We're not all like that. Please start realising this.

5. We all live in Benoni or Brakpan.

Too many times as a conversation ended with "...like some Afrikaans guy from Brakpan" or "...he was like this Afrikaans Benoni boytjie." Now, as much as I'm intrigued by the thought that we all have our own little colony set up in Benoni and Brakpan, that seizes to be the case. Yep, sorry to break your hearts but a lot of us are chilling around in Bryanston, rocking it in Cape Town, and watching soccer in Soweto. And don't worry we're regular folk like everyone else. We don't bite.

Now see, Afrikaners aren't always what you make them out to be. If one is around you, try talking to him or her, they'll more than likely talk back without giving you the fright of your life. ; )

Disclaimer: No person of any culture, race or creed was harmed during the writing of this post.


  

Top 5 small things that ruins your day

1. Your car's fuel indicator.

You wake up fresh as a daisy, feeling great after a cup of coffee and ready to hit a hard day's work. But, oh wait, of course. The moment you start your car, that glorious little meter in the right or left corner of your dashboard shows that your petrol is so low that you'll be lucky to make it all the way to work. As this vision hits your eyes you can feel the cash flowing out of your wallet. Because nowadays you pay for petrol to be able to go to work, to be able to get a salary, to be able to pay for petrol.

2. Impractical office furniture.

For some reason, no matter how hard you try, you WILL knock a knee, hand or elbow against a very sharp edge of your desk. Other objects where impact occurs: door handles, sideways-opening kitchen cupboard, that small corner of the wall that you can only hit with your small toe, and of course drawers that conveniently close when your little finger is still fully extended inside.

3. Spam

By now I've won 3 Mercedes SLK's, the UK Lottery twice, I've received 10 packs of free sexual enhancement drugs and more or less 50 iPhones. I must be the luckiest guy on the planet. If I ever meet the person sending all these emails, i will shove the iPhones in his ear, drive over him with the Mercedes while forcing him to listen to the British national anthem.

4. USN Commercials


Nothing puts you on an early winter guilt trip quite like those USN commercials. You know the ones, where people instantly transform their lives in 12 weeks, and then they tell you to take the next step. Now I really believe that all those products and some exercise will help, but the before and after pictures are what baffles me. A completely bald headed guy will have a full flowing lock of hair after his transformation, and it also seems as though it's a hair removal product as well. Most of the guys start of with the chest of a gorilla and then after 12 weeks, boom, smooth as a baby's bottom on a Pampers ad.


5. Cold toilet seats


Like getting up during winter isn't hard enough, there's always for some reason a call of nature that strikes at about 6:30 am. Most of the time you're in such a mad rush to make it to the toilet in time, that you never consider the fact that the seat has spent the night freezing up. And then that glorious moment when your bare ass hits the seat, you quickly find yourself wondering if you're on the toilet or busy dipping your bottom into a open hole in the Antarctic ice-caps.


Tell me your small things that ruin your day. I'm sure there's quite a few out there.

Crazy movie moments project

So I'm in love with movies. Over the weekends, you're more than likely to spot me inside a Look 'n Listen or Musica with an armful of DVDs in my hand. I love the iconic moments in movies like the horse scene in the Godfather or the dancing scene in Pulp Fiction and I always wanted to see what other people's favourites are. So I'm starting the movie moments project! (Sorry, I couldn't think of a better title)

I want everybody who reads my blog and shares my love for movies to draw, sketch, design , write or paint me their favourite movie scenes or posters. I don't care if it's stickmen or some crazy artistic design. Send me a visual interpretation of some of your favourite movies. I will post all these designs on my blog and let's see what crazy stuff we can come up with. Comment on this post if you want to send something and I'll pop you my email address. Let's get cracking cinephiles.

Things I want to do before the end of 2011

So the 21st of May 2011 came and gone and there was no rapture. No fireball hurling towards. No cracks appearing in the ground, swallowing people to the core. Now, I still believe that the people who came up with this ludicrous prophecy are a bunch of money hungry con men. But they did get me thinking. If the world really did end, what are the few things that I would regret never doing. Now I'm pretty sure the world won't end anytime soon. At least not before South Africa has internet that's fast enough that you don't have to wait for YouTube to buffer. But just in case, I thought I would make a list of stuff I want to do before 2011 comes to an end.

1. Do stand-up comedy

I've always loved performing and making people laugh. But only from last year did I actually think of trying stand-up. A famous comedian and radio personality had a competition for aspiring comics to tell a few jokes and then win a spot to be his opening act. Not thinking much about it I gave it a shot, and was one of the 4 finalists! Unfortunately I lost out to someone a lot better, but I still felt really proud. Ever since then I've had it in my head to do comedy at an open mic night. I've typed so much material I could do a 2 hour show but I guess that epic fear of failure is always there. You know, telling a joke and nobody laughs and all you hear is the sound of crickets? But before this year ends I'm going to give it a shot, no matter how hard I fail.

2. Win a Pendoring

For those of you who don't know a Pendoring looks a little something like this:

The Pendoring awards are given out for great advertising in Afrikaans. Now South Africa already have the Loerie advertising awards but I still firmly believe that winning a Pendoring is a much harder task. The reason is simple if you produce a great ad in English, it will be loved by any and all South Africans. But to create something in Afrikaans and grab the attention of Afrikaans people is a lot more difficult. Now the picture I posted is one I won as a student last year. But I'm the big bad ad industry now and would love nothing more than to win one of these for work done for my agency.

3. Rock a proper party

I've come to realise that how much stuff you start missing out on when you're life gets consumed by the pressure of work, performing at work and of course, the actual task of doing work. I can't think of the last time that I properly hung out with all my friends, have a few drinks with them and just enjoy good times, good drinks and proper conversation. But that's all about to change. I've got two parties in mind. The first one will be a proper Mad Men party. I reckoned having this on my birthday would be awesome. All the guys can rock the classic 50's suits as we sip on some whisky and light up cigars, while listening to Let's Twist Again. And the ladies can all kick it old school with the stylish stuff they used to wear in the 50's.

The second one will definitely have to be a good old Halloween party. Everybody can dress how they want, no matter how crazy. But the crazy costumes are a must.

4. Get something published

Yes I know, having a blog is some way of getting published. But I think any good writer worth his/her salt wants to get published in some sort of public media e.g. newspaper, magazine etc. I would love to see a piece of writing from myself published in either GQ, Playboy, Migrate magazine or any established newspaper. I just have so may short story ideas, and I plan to get them all on paper and then risk my hand at sending them to publications.

 
5. Take more photographs


I've always loved photos. There's something amazing about moments captured in time. Living in a great city like JHB gives me so much chance to take great photographs and before the end of the year I want to get myself either a proper digital camera like this bad boy:

or a crazy vintage Polaroid camera for those crazy moments where I just have to see the photo immediately.

So there's my list of things to do before the end of 2011. I reckon most of them are reachable. I just have to find or make time and make a proper effort to reach all of them in time. If you've got some crazy stuff you wanna do before 2012 comes along hit me with a comment.

All images are copyright protected by their respective owners. No copyright infringement was intended by posting them on this blog.

What does it mean being a kid these days?

Recently I was amazed to find out how many kids, and by kids I mean primary school, own cellphones and iPods. Some of the more rich kids even have iPad's. Now I'm all for bringing technology into our lives. I run a blog, constantly check my Twitter for updates by all those I follow and get all my news from the Internet. But what purpose does a cellphone serve in a 12 year old child's life? Sure, Mommy and Daddy are concerned and probably want to have a communication tool to keep tabs on poor little Johnny, and a good old Nokia 3310 will achieve that. But I see little kids walking around in shopping malls with freaking 3G phones and using Mxit. What happened to getting dropped off at your bud's place while your Mom and Dad go to the boring (back then) shopping mall? This made me wonder how things have changed.

When I was 10-12 years old there was nothing cooler than playing cricket in the yard, doing doughnuts with your bicycle in the street and playing till 8pm at night when your mom tries to drag you back into the house. You feel your knees open to the bone, scraped your arms against something rough and got dirty because it was fun. Take-away dinners were something that happened maybe ONCE in a month. Other than that you had to begrudgingly digest Mom's cooking, and if you didn't, you went hungry. Simple as that. Nowadays mom has to make what the kids want because all the child psychologists say that you HAVE to please a child. This leads to mom not knowing what to make and she simply buys McDonald's. When mom arrives with the greasy delights, the kids are unhappy because they don't like the toy that comes with the meal.

After the meal, mom and dad try to relax but not without letting the kids watch Hannah Montana or Ben 10. By the way, when did kids shows start airing at 8 o' clock at night? Back in the day 3pm to 5pm was prime time kids viewing. You could sit and stare at the Power Rangers kicking an over sized monster's ass, laugh at Darkwing Duck, wish you were as cool as the Biker Mice from Mars and dream of owning your own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Now you have shows where kids are being taught valuable life lessons and where the star of the show breaks into song every 5 minutes.

Another weird thing is the way children think about education. Remember the good old days where you're teacher had authority and homework was still necessary. These days you hear about teachers getting fired because they called a child out in front of the class for not doing their work. I wish that was the only consequence when I was in school. My teacher would give me the old wooden ruler to the hand if I was mischievous in class. I would then proceed to go home and tell my parents, and they would then call the teacher. Not to say "Don't you dare discipline my child!", but rather to say "Is that all he gets? Next time phone us and we'll come do it as well."

I don't know. Maybe I wasn't spoiled enough as a child or maybe I'm just not accepting the changes happening in society. But kids aren't kids anymore... I put together a little montage of cool stuff from my day as a kid! Hope you guys enjoy! Comment and let me know of the cool stuff you used to when you were a kid and how thing have changed.

All cartooons are property of cartoonstock.com and all videos are property of YouTube.com. No copyright is intended.

Advertising: An industry still capable of magic

Normally when I tell people I'm a copywriter they seem extremely interested and start asking me questions like "So what law degree do you need for that?" or "You're probably gonna search my house for pirate DVDs?" Sooner rather than later I correct them with the fact that being a copywriter means I work in advertising, and quickly their opinions change. Yes, some advertising is bad and yes, some advertising forces products down your throat but more often than not advertising creates a little bit of magic. It tells a feel good story that doesn't necessarily make you buy the product but makes you remember the brand. I've compiled a list of a few ads that make advertising a worthy career. If I create one ad in my lifetime that's half as good as any of these I'll die a happy man.

1. Puma - Chorus

It's a bunch of soccer hooligans singing one of the most renowned love songs of all time and declaring their undying love for football. Within weeks various 'chorus' videos popped up on YouTube as users declared their love for football. 

2. Topsy Foundation - Selinah

In the last decade there has not been a South African ad as powerful and far reaching as this one. Simply brilliant.

3. VW - The Force

You don't see how fast the car can go, you don't see anything special about the car, and you don't see any part of the boy's face. Will I go buy the car because of this ad? Hell yes.

4. Heineken - Men with Talent

A great spoof on all the talent shows currently doing the rounds on TV. Heineken have always been renowned for their brilliant ads and this one adds to their arsenal.

 

 

5. Chicken Licken - Bunker

 

This ad for Chicken Licken took the very sensitive and 'done to death' subject of Apartheid in South Africa and poked fun with it in the most incredible way.

6. BMW - Mouse

 

To this very day people still think this ad was done in America or Great Britain but it's proudly South African. If memory serves me correct this was done in the late 80's, early 90's and still considered as one of the greatest car commercials ever.

 

 

7. Guiness - Surfer

This ad looks more like a short Hollywood film. But when all the mesmerizing visuals and brilliant narration is over you still know that 'Good things come to those who wait.'

8. Evian - Roller Babies

 

This ad did not run on TV once. But in the times we live in, having 39 million hits on YouTube says something about the quality of the commercial. If this ad doesn't want to make you live young, nothing will.

 

 

9. Apple - 1984

 

Back in the 1980's a small computer company was trying to enter the market place. But with big companies like IBM and Microsoft leading the way, how do you cause a stir? Like this. It might not look like much, but this was the kick start to Apple's rising popularity.

10. Nolan's Cheddar - Mouse

 

Did it win any awards? No. Do a lot of people know it? No. But this commercial will leave you smiling and have you singing along. P.S. Don't turn stop halfway through!

So there's my list of commercials that create a little bit of magic. Please tell me if you agree and if not tell me which commercials you think is also 'magical'.

Please note: All commercials are property of their various companies and advertising agencies and no copyright infringement is intended.

Why am I so against Afrikaans music?

I'm very outspoken about Afrikaans music and regularly get lambasted by family and friends for not being more positive about it. Now I've always been a big fan of Afrikaans music. Sure, stuff like Kurt Darren and Juanita du Plessis don't exactly get me putting the volume up on my iPod, but these guys have a target market and make ORIGINAL music specifically for them. Please note my CAPS LOCK being on for the word original. I started to develop a slight dislike for Afrikaans music when a certain Nicholis Louw burst onto the scene with this massive Afrikaans hit.

This song got extensive airplay when it was released and Nicholis Louw shot to stardom in an instant. Ou tannies from Centurion to Cape Town went gaga for his dance moves, not-so-stylishly gelled hair and oversize Doc Martins. However, when I first heard the song I became very suspicious about it's catchy beat and melody. And then I remembered that I've heard this before...

Yes, the great original version by Nicholis is not original after all. Afrikaans artists have always been renowned for covering other songs e.g. Steve Hofmeyr releasing 2 Neil Diamond CDs. But this act of copying by Mr. Louw just screams "let's use that other catchy tune and put Afrikaans words in it to sell as a sokkie hit". And I thought that it would stop there but it didn't. Take a look at this one.

Not a bad song and obviously just as popular upon release. But wait for it...

Poor O-Zone must wonder how this ever happened? I truly wonder if there was royalty fees involved when their songs were used by our local artists. Now I'm not saying that the international versions are great, but they're significantly better than the local ones and much more original.

So there you go. Whenever I get asked why are you so against Afrikaans music etc. etc. I will purely point people towards this blog post.

P.S. If you do a cover, admit it's a cover and do it well, like local boys Van Coke Kartel doing a cover of the 80's classic Maniac.

All videos contain copyright to the relevant parties and are purely here for demonstration purposes.

Run for Cover!

In any music store today you'll get bombarded with albums like Bump Volume 523 or BOOM! Volume 524. Now I have to admit that I did buy my fair share of Bump albums back in the day but these days they are rife with Europop covers of Sweet Dreams, Girls just wanna have fun and every Depeche Mode song ever made. But I do believe that there are still some covers that are just as good if not better than the original and I thought I would share my top 5 with you. Now most of these are pretty hardcore but just sit back and enjoy.

1. Toxic - Static Lullaby
Never has a Britney Spears song sounded this edgy and hardcore whilst still keeping the lyrics quite relevant.

2. Just don't know what to do with myself - The White Stripes
Great song, great cover version, great music video. I still want this on Vinyl!

3. Tainted Love - Marilyn Manson
Now I've never been a fan of Manson, and no I'm not gonna start a religious debate. This is just a rocking cover of the 80's hit Tainted Love. And it was the soundtrack to the best spoof movie ever, Not Another Teen Movie.

4.Shout - Disturbed
This song was originally made by Tears for Fears, and recently Danny K and a bunch of SA musicians covered it and used it for an anti-crime initiative. The cover was bad. Some rapping, Steve Hofmeyr and celebs singing together? Not good. Disturbed did this a lot better and it makes you wanna shout the lyrics!

5. Kaptein - Straatligkinders
Surely you didn't think I wasn't going to drop an Afrikaans song on the list? First listen to the original, if you can make it halfway you've do well...

And now the awesome cover done by Straatligkinders...

Hope the bit of musical inspiration got your Thursday going!!!

Please note that all music and music videos are owned by the artists, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Top 10 things every guy in a long term relationship should know.

1. Chick Flicks are a given. There's no way of fighting it. These tear jerkers will become much more frequent in your life and a lot of the times you will get the odd stare saying: "Why can't you be more like that guy in that movie?" Popular choices among the female race are: You got mail, P.S. I love you, When Harry met Sally and the queen mother of them all, The Notebook.

2. Whenever she says "Don't worry I'll pay", it only means that once you get to the pay window at the Drive-thru she'll give you a doe-eyed look that screams "I'd rather spend this money on skin cream that costs R400/ml over the weekend." So inevitably you end up paying, feeling like a gentleman and feeling R100 poorer.

3. Whenever you ask "Can I help you with something?" she will ALWAYS say "don't worry it's okay". Don't fall into this trap boys. You will more than likely get the silent treatment later on in the night for not helping. I know what you're thinking, she already said don't worry. That's where you're wrong. It subconsciously means just get up and do something, even if it's moving the TV 2 inches to the left.

4. You will see your girlfriend try on 4 pairs of shoes, which end up to be the exact same pair every time. She won't like it the first time, she will the second time, they'll be the wrong colour the 3rd time and on the 4th try she will either buy them or storm out the store complaining about how there's nothing she ever likes.

5. Brad Pitt, Gerard Butler, The Twilight, Vampire Diaries and True Blood boys will always make their knees weak. But those fellows wont be the ones killing a spider she found in the bathroom at 11 o' clock at night.

6. Moodswings. They're no Urban Myth, they happen. Your other half will sometimes get the urge to change from Kind, Warm and Loving to Cold-hearted, Ruthlesss and Over-Emotional.

7. Move along the GQ's, Playboys, FHM's. Your rack of magazines will soon include Cosmo, Woman's Health and Heat. Don't fight it guys. Read up. It's like having another team's playbook.

8. She will have friends that she hates, loves, hates, loves, hates and love again. All in one week. Try to keep up and react accordingly when coming across them in public.

9. There will always be the ex that was like Superman, Chuck Norris, The Bachelor and MacGyver all in one.

10. Don't try watching long sessions of sport. Stick to a 2 hour game of rugby at most. And be prepared to hop to Isidingo or 7de Laan every 5 minutes. This will more than likely happen at the very moment of a try being scored. Just grin and bear it.

Cartoon done by Kevin Spear of kevinspear.com

4 Blogs that got me blogging

I've only recently started this blog and I'm quite happy to say that I've sorta kept it up to date. For the last two years I've been wanting to have a successful blog but never kept that promise to myself. Come New Years 2011 and much research I vouched to keep a blog come hell or high water. I was looking for some inspiration and came across these 4 blogs and I've been following the ever since.

indieBerries 

indieBerries is a blog kept by girl called Che Kershaw. She's a South African living in South Korea and she keeps her blog updated with all the cool stuff she encounters over there, some awesome creative stuff and the craziest, funniest cartoons. This lady won best personal blog and best blog design at the SA blog awards 2010. And I don't think there's a lot of personal bloggers using blogger that can make their blog look this awesome.

BeingBrazen

This lady is based in the Mother City. And you can feel it. Her writing is just smooth and breezy all the way down. Her blog updates just read so easily and she posts the coolest stuff and there's a lot of fashion in it as well, so I always keep up to date when talking about clothes with my girlfriend. Her blog inspired me with all the cool categories she has; you can literally find anything from movies to cool new places in Cape Town on this lady's great blog.

Lucky Pony 

The owner of Wolves Cafe and wife of Shane Durrant from Desmond and the Tutus has created this blog that is packed with stuff that will blow your mind. Whether she's posting a great art exhibition she atttended or one of the great new muffins Wolves might be selling, her blog is filled to the brim with just crazy, creative stuff. And the fact that her husband is part of Desmond and the Tutus, means every now and then there's also some awesome tour pics from the band.

2oceansvibe

The biggest blog in the country at the moment. The moment 2oceansvibe hit the internet it kick started the blogging movement in SA. Now only did the blog become very successful but it's now become an entire media machine there's videos, sponsorships, parties and even 2oceansvibe Radio. They've made it, and by doing so gave every blogger something to aspire to.

Facebook vs Twitter

There's been battles that will rage forever: iPhone vs Blackberry, Man U vs Liverpool, Bloods vs Cribs, Bulls vs Stormers, toiletpaper up vs toiletpaper down... But a battle that's really coming of age lately is Facebook vs Twitter. Being friends with people and telling them nothing vs Telling everything to people you don't know at all.

Facebook hit my life circa 2006. In my first year of Varsity one of my friends looked at me in a drunken state and said: "Like... Like why haven't you added me on Facebook yet?" Facebook then went from being a description of a library that holds ID pictures of everyone, to an obsession of mine. I mean I could see what my buddies were having for breakfast! Oh how young I was... My love for Facebook soon faltered as pokes, Farmville, random digital vampire bites and online poker messages started flooding my inbox. Random tags of myself in photos I don't even appear in, stalking by creepy Indonesian ladies and friend requests from that guy who was cool in high school but now can't even buy a friend, soon became too much.

3 years ago, more or less, Twitter hit SA shores. I never took much interest in the rage that surrounded it. The first claim to fame Twitter had was Ashton Kutcher posting a picture of Demi Moore's butt all over TwitPic, and that seemed a bit like candid camera for the web. In a digital marketing lecture 2 years ago our lecturer told us to sign up to Twitter to get marks. According to him if we weren't on it there was no way we would be able to keep up with advertising in the future. Soon I signed up and now I can't see a day without Twitter.

I get my news, my sports reports, even work updates from Twitter. Twitter will forever be remembered as the movement that retained freedom of speech for everyone. And here you can actually get real updates from people that matter. I've made more connections in terms of work, social life, business etc. than Facebook ever could do for me. I mean I'm talking to bloggers in South Korea, getting replies from Playboy magazine, meeting fellow creatives, all whilst checking what's new in the life of Gaga, Kanye and Katy Perry. To prove my point I made a little list of 5 things with which you can compare Facebook to Twitter.

Someone will always declare their undying love for someone with words like baby, sweetheart and darling.        Facebook has Farmville.        The more friends you have on Facebook the less you have in real life.       Facebook is for hearing from people you went to school with.

There’s only love for people who write meaningful stuff on Twitter          All the cows and pigs on Twitter just get unfollowed.          The more followers you have on Twitter the more friends you’ll make in real life.          Twitter is for hearing from people you wish you went to school with.

Here's looking at you Casablanca.

With all the recent rain pelting down on an already wet Johannesburg I did what many a Joburger does on a day like this...hit the shops. Now I'm an avid movie fan and I collect DVDs like women collect shoes. As I stepped into Look 'n Listen at Cresta a sign caught my eye that read DVDs! 1 for R79, 2 for R149, 3 for R199. Being in advertising myself, the word sale doesn't really trigger me into compulsive buying but it did. I walked out with 7 DVDs to add to my collection and 1 of them was the renowned movie Casablanca. I've never seen the film myself and I've always gotten the odd glare when i mention this in conversation, so last night I sat down with some popcorn and watched the epic play out in front of me.

This movie is simply brilliant. There's something about the golden age of Hollywood that captures you in so many ways. The dialogue is razor sharp, the storyline is fantastic (Nazi's, WW2, a love triangle, a bar owner...), and Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are sublime actors. Watch this movie if you haven't, if you have watch it again. And to those of you saying "but it's in black an white", if you haven't seen a movie in black and white you haven't seen a movie. Oh and this movie is riddled with movie quotes that you've always heard through the years but never really seen played out on screen. It saddens me to say that it's been a long time since Hollywood has brought out a film with this much cultural impact and good acting. CGI and cheesy teen soundtracks have taken over movies but we can always hope that this will soon change.

Creepy, awesome, twisted and cool all in one.

I regularly check out a site called the Behance Network. It's a site where designers, photographers, illustrators and tons of other people who do great stuff with images showcase their work. I then came across these mad and crazy, and brilliantly done illustrations by a guy named Anton Semenov. His work his twisted yet absolutely beautiful and, although I don't know this for a fact, it also gives a bit of social commentary. Mr. Semenov your work is brilliant.

You can't win elections without the right beat

A newspaper columnist recently lambasted the ANC for their election CD they released. Believe it or not, but it wasn't so much about the fact that the CD is propaganda etc. etc. but rather the fact that the singing was quite horrendous. I gave this some thought and made a tracklist of songs that will get the ANC election CD to the top of any music store's charts:

1. Under Pressure - Queen
2. Where's your head at? - Basement Jaxx
3. Our House - Madness
4. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
5. Help! - The Beatles
6. Black or White - Michael Jackson
7. The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
8. Money (That's what I want) - Barret Strong
9. 99 problems - Jay-Z
10. Sounds of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

Not only is this a CD that fits all ANC legislature and actions but it's one that I will actually buy and sing along to in the shower (oh crap, i just said shower and ANC in the same sentence...).

Songs that get my head a' bopping.

Recently I found myself dumbstruck by the kind of music that dominated the Grammy's. Now, I'm sure the so-desperate-for-attention-that-i'll-stalk-a-boy "beliebers" will throw hate mail my way but that poor boy shouldn't have even been nominated. Lady Antebellum got a few rewards and frankly they deserved it. They made country music cool again without singing about 4 shots of whiskey and a girl named Lucille. But overall I just felt that a lot of the winners weren't really that good and in light of that I proudly present my Top 5 Songs at the moment.

Now just for one moment ignore the fact that this is on the soundtrack of Twilight: Eclipse. Because let's face it, if it weren't for the soundtrack those poor fang boys would never had all their fame. This song by Florence and the Machine is just so epic in both wording and production value, and yes I sing along to this like a teenager in my car.

Next up is one of the best voices in music at the moment. Just take it in.

This next one is from Mumford and Sons. THE MOST UNDERRATED BAND IN THE WORLD. Pure Genius.

Yes yes, go ahead judge me. Call this woman what you want: crazy, attention-seeking, ridiculous etc. She doesn't care and neither does 30 million other people. She creates hit after hit. I only put up the audio track because that music video...well...I'm still trying to figure that out for myself.

Besides from being probably the coolest music video of the year, Mr West has collaborated with Rihanna and Kid Cudi to drop an absolute ripper of a song. PLEASE NOTE: This music video contains very frequent flashes of light and colour that can trigger seizures for people with epilepsy. No jokes.

Let me know what you think of my choices. Agree? Disagree?

Top 5 cool things about being Afrikaans.

Being a small town Afrikaans boy who's "Englishified" himself in the great city of Johannesburg I decided to make a small little list of 5 cool things about being Afrikaans. Not to worry all my English friends, I don't think I even speak 5% of all my words in Afrikaans these days.

1. I can totally start a weak-ass braai with no hope of ever taking flame and people will just look and say: "Nah, he know what he's doing."
2. If I wear anything other than a two-tone khaki shirt, knee high socks and tekkies I'm considered as a trendsetter.
3. Die Antwoord and Jack Parow has gone more global than Prime Circle or Danny K.
4. People automatically think you're not so smart, so whenever you talk English without an accent, they get this amazed look on their face.
5. Listening to people using the words 'lank', 'kwaai' en 'lekker' as if they came straight from the Oxford Dictionary.

John, it's good to get to know you.

I was browsing this insane little bookstore in Margate while on holiday there in December and stumbled upon this gem for only R50. It's an authorized biography of the life of Mr Lennon himself, and I have been gripped by this book. I don't know if it's the totally awesome cover or the fact that it contains in-depth details about the inner workings of the Beatles, but this book just shows you why it's such a loss to the world that we lost Lennon so early in his life. Now there hasn't really ever been cool movies about the Beatles which they didn't star in themselves, think Hard Day's Night and Help!, but when I saw Nowhere Boy I was blown away. It's very Indie, very British and very Awesome.